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A7
news
Friday, September 27, 2013 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
Miguel Moses
HOME FURNISHINGS
25 MUCURAPO ROAD, ST JAMES. TEL: 622-1996
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0912108
CHAIRS
off
GAIL ALEXANDER
A St Joseph elector is
preparing a legal con-
stitutional motion
against Speaker Wade
Mark s ruling that out-
going St Joseph MP,
Herbert Volney, should
have ceased to function
in that role, Volney said
yesterday.
Mark is expected to
declare the seat vacant
at today s sitting of Par-
liament.
On September 9, Mark
called on Volney to cease
performing his functions
as MP following a letter
from Prime Minister
Kamla Persad-Bissessar,
who said Volney had
resigned from the UNC.
Volney won the seat on
a UNC ticket in 2010.
Mark based his action
on segments of Section
49 of the Constitution.
He gave Volney 14 days
to file any legal action
contesting the situation
but Volney did not.
A by-election must be
held up to a maximum
of 90 days---up to
December 27 latest---after
the seat is declared
vacant. Persad-Bissessar
is the person who has the
power to announce the
date.
Volney said yesterday
while he had not filed
any legal action, he had
learnt an elector from St
Joseph was preparing to
go to court over the
Speaker s ruling and "to
prove it wrong and that
the MP was wrongfully
removed from the St
Joseph seat."
He said the action was
not being taken by him
and he had just learnt
about it.
Volney said he did not
believe the court action
would halt a by-election,
since he had stopped
performing as MP, as
mandated, had not filed
any legal action in the
required 14-day period
and now that was up, the
seat was being declared
vacant, possibly today.
He added: "It s the
right of any elector to
take the action that is
being undertaken, as I
understand it.
"If an elector feels they
elected me for five years
and feel they have been
wronged by being
deprived of my represen-
tation for five years, they
are free to seek any
action, I would think.
This has nothing to do
with me. I was ready to
go."
The Movement for
Social Justice (MSJ)
will decide on its full
slate of candidates for
the October 21 local
government elections
on Sunday.
The party s leader,
David Abdulah, said its
candidates would be
contesting 50 per cent
of municipal corpora-
tions, including Diego
Martin,
San
Juan/Laventille, Tuna-
puna/Piarco, Arima,
Chaguanas, Siparia and
Point Fortin.
"We have candidates
at 50 per cent of the
corporations but we are
not contesting all the
seats in each of the cor-
porations," Abdulah
added.
He said the party was
still screening its can-
didates and that was
scheduled to be com-
pleted on Sunday.
Candidates for the
upcoming elections
need to be submitted to
the Elections and
Boundaries Commis-
sion by Monday.
Abdulah said the MSJ
candidates had done
most of their cam-
paigning in communi-
ties on the ground.
"We are doing a lot
of walking in the field.
We are engaging with
people on a one-on-
one basis and sharing
is what the MSJ is
about," he added.
Abdulah said the MSJ
was not looking for
campaign financiers as
the process was rife
with corruption, but
added candidates were
raising their own funds
through barbecues and
small donations.
At a news conference
yesterday, Abdulah
slammed the Govern-
ment s amendments to
the Municipal Corpo-
rations Act which
replaces the first-past-
the-post voting system
with proportional rep-
resentation.
"The process for the
amendment was
flawed. There was no
time for public discus-
sion or consultation
prior to the bill being
passed," Abdulah said.
He called the amend-
ment undemocratic and
said electing aldermen
by proportional repre-
sentation would not
result in more power for
the people.
He added: "The bill
takes power from com-
munities and puts it in
the hands of parties. It
is an ambush by the
People s Partnership
Government."
He said the law made
it difficult for inde-
pendent candidates to
be elected by commu-
nities.
Abdulah said the MSJ
would comply with the
legislation even though
it believed it was not
democratic.
Acting Prime Minister
Prakash Ramadhar, second
from right, and Minister in
the Ministry of Gender,
Youth and Child
Development, Raziha
Ahmed, right, present
Christy de Souza, centre,
with her certificate of
recognition for a national
youth awards 2013
nomination at the Office of
the Prime Minister, St Clair,
yesterday. Also in photo are
the founder/president of the
Down Syndrome Family
Network, Fitzherbert Glen
Niles, left, and Christy's
brother, Mark de Souza.
PHOTO: BRIAN NG FATT
MSJ's polls team by
Sunday---Abdulah
David Abdulah
Volney said he had
vacated the St Joseph
MP s office which Par-
liament would keep open
for the next MP.
A former judge, he said
he intended to rebuild a
practice specialising in
the transformation of the
criminal justice system,
since he felt he had some
expertise in that regard.
Volney was Justice
Minister until he was
fired a year ago over the
Section 34 issue.
He said he doubted he
would appear on Jack
Warner s ILP platform
although he joined the
party but would be on
walkabouts. He added he
did not think ILP hopeful
for St Joseph, attorney
Om Lalla, would win.
He said: "Mr Lalla isn t
a good choice and the
PNM would beat him if
he contested for ILP. I
have received lots of calls
from my former con-
stituents on articles that
he was tipped for the seat
for the ILP.
"I know my people.
You need a person in St
Joseph with roots on the
ground and I have told
Mr Warner that Lalla will
lose if he went up. That s
the feeling I get on the
ground."
Volney on Mark's ruling:
Elector plans to sue him
RECOGNISED